LAFC looks to get on track against Austin
Overworked, fatigued players and tactical indecisiveness were to blame for Los Angeles Football Club's worst performance of the year on Saturday in Colorado.
“The wrong way to do it,” said LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo, who in his short tenure has not shied away from frank assessments. “In the end, it's about effort and actually running and covering ground and spaces. We were not able to do that for whatever reason. Those three factors play into a loss.”
Coming at the midway point of eight matches over 28 days in May, LAFC's first goal-less result going back 18 games ended an unbeaten streak that began after their April road loss to the Galaxy.
While the 2-0 result against the Rapids was reminiscent of other contests when LAFC started slow, there wasn't a secondhalf rally to turn around an otherwise forgettable performance.
“Things don't happen automatically in this sport,” Cherundolo said. “It is a running sport. As much as we love tactics and finishing and defending and set pieces, all that is great, but the sport is set up to run. It's a big field. There's only 20 players on the field. It is set up to run and the team who is more mobile isn't the team that always wins, but there is a certain threshold, a bare minimum you have to bring we're always harping on our players to do, and that's what we expect.”
Despite the setback, LAFC (7-2-2, 23 points) still boasts the top record in Major League Soccer.
“The match did make us feel uncomfortable the way it unfolded,” LAFC midfielder Jose Cifuentes said. “But we turned the page and shifted our focus to this and have to look forward.”
Austin FC (6-3-2, 20 points) visits LAFC tonight having lost its last two matches.
Like LAFC, Austin stumbled over the weekend and has returned from the mountains a man down.
LAFC defender Ryan Hollingshead was removed in the first half against the Rapids with a knee injury and will be out Wednesday night.
So is Austin midfielder Dani Pereira, whose red card early in the second half against Real Salt Lake opened the door to a 2-1 defeat and forced the regular starter to sit for the first time this season.
Pereira's contributions include three assists, placing him in a quartet of Austin players tied for second on the team behind MLS leader Diego Fagundez's seven.
Each club has a leaguebest 23 goals in 11 matches.
Thirteen LAFC players have put their names on the scoresheet compared to Austin's 10, with forwards Sebastian Druissi (seven) and Max Urruti (four) combining for more goals than the MLS franchises in Charlotte, Kansas City, Vancouver or Chicago.